What Have You Learned From Bsa Service Learning Experience

Involving your students in customs service can experience like an impossible task when y'all already have endless piles of curriculum to encompass during the school year.

Only what if yous could achieve both of these at the same time?

You've probably heard of service learning. Maybe you lot've fifty-fifty wanted to use it in your classroom, but aren't exactly sure what it is or how to go nigh information technology.

When done properly, service learning is a fantastic form of experiential learning the whole class can enjoy. Including service learning projects in your curriculum encourages students to learn about relevant bug, get involved in community service and engage with bookish content — all at the same fourth dimension!

Permit's start with the basics.

What is service learning?

Co-ordinate to theNational Youth Leadership Council, it's "a philosophy, education, and model for community development that is used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards."

In simpler terms, service learning is an educational method that combines academic goals with community service projects. Lessons about relevant community issues are combined with existing grade content to optimize the bookish experience.

At the same fourth dimension, students gain easily-on experience doing service projects to tackle community issues and make positive changes.

The dazzler of service learning is that something real and concrete is occurring. Learning takes on a new dimension. When students are engaged intellectually and emotionally with a topic, they can calorie-free up with a revelation or make a connection between two previously split up ideas. What they've learned in school suddenly matters and engages their minds and their hearts. Cathryn Berger Kaye, K.A. Author of The Complete Guide to Service Learning

Teachers can provide existent-world examples of the curriculum they're teaching. Students are given a fresh perspective on what they're learning and tin can apply it to the projects they work on.

Unabridged classrooms brand positive changes to the customs, and everyone reaps the rewards.

How is service learning different from community service?

It's nifty to get children involved in customs service as before long every bit possible, merely service learning adds an actress layer to make it even more than beneficial for students.

Service learning is a more student-centered arroyo than other forms of community service, such every bit volunteering. The focus is on student experiences, and the entire service projection is designed around providing as much education every bit possible every step of the manner.

Most kinds of community service help the community more than than the person providing it, but the benefit is reciprocal with service learning. Students and members of the customs can both be equally satisfied.

What are the benefits of service learning?

Certain, it sounds skillful, but at this point you may be wondering, "can this really do good my students?"

The unproblematic answer: yes, information technology can! In that location are many proven benefits of adding service learning to your curriculum. Research from the University of South Alabama institute that around 80% of students who took office in a service learning projection establish the experience "highly beneficial." These students saw improvements in their communication skills, self-awareness and knowledge of community needs.

In another report, service learning programs improved the course-bespeak averages of students 76% of the time. Students in the programme were more engaged, punctual and interested in course content.

In addition to the above findings, service learning tin can:

Help students make connections between different academic subjects by using an interdisciplinary teaching arroyo
Encourage students to positively contribute to their communities, while also aligning to course curriculum
Let for a hands-on learning experience
Ameliorate bookish outcomes, omnipresence rates and class date
Promote common respect and kindness
Heave levels of self-esteem, empathy and responsibility
Increase sensation of customs needs and local or global bug
Reduce the risk of behavioral problems in the classroom
Strengthen classroom advice

The ideas and examples provided below volition help you bring service learning to your classroom and see many of these benefits come to life for your students.

What does service learning look like?

A adept service learning program follows a specific format so education can occur throughout the entire process. Creating a detailed plan for each step of the fashion will make it like shooting fish in a barrel to introduce your program and keep students engaged, while meeting basic standards to ensure success.

The general guidelines for a service learning program include:

Preparation — This is the stage where you prepare yourself and your students to take on their service project. You can start by deciding on a projection to tackle, figuring out how to tie it in with your curriculum, and forming community partnerships with local organizations your class can work with. Then you lot tin can teach your students about the community issue to gear up them for action. Brand certain you lot choose a project that isrelevant to your community.
Tip: Give your students a vocalism during this stage to keep them interested. For example, you lot tin accept the form vote on which customs issue they desire to back up or on individual roles within the project.
Action —This is the easily-on component where the class gets to employ what they've learned and employ it to a real service projection. Students will now directly help community partners and those affected past the issue with actual community service work.
Reflection —This stage lets students reflect on their service project, consider what they learned from it, and apply their learnings to the curriculum. Reflection is encouraged during every step, but this phase allows for a more in-depth process where students can consider what they've learned and how they feel about the service they provided.

Example of a reflection worksheet for younger grades. Image source: Scholastic

Sit-in —Students can show what they've learned well-nigh the issue to their course, school or community. This is an opportunity to raise awareness of the event and what others tin can practice to help.
Celebration—Students can congratulate themselves and each other for their hard work and positive contributions.
undefined

There are a number of things you can do with your students throughout the program. Beneath are some ideas you tin can use for each stage of your service learning programme.

Grooming: Students can learn nearly the issue they are going to tackle using:

Class and minor group discussions
Visual brainstorming sessions
Books
Web-based research
News clippings
Infographics
Videos

Action: Students can serve their communities by taking part in:

Field trips
Research projects
Events
Crafts
Fundraisers
Tutoring sessions
Awareness campaigns
Various service projects (cleaning, building, gardening etc.)

Reflection: Students can reflect on their experiences with:

Group discussions
Journal entries
Worksheets
Essays
Weblog posts
Videos
Poems or songs
Visual art submissions

Sit-in: Students tin can demonstrate what they've learned almost the event by creating:

Final presentations
Skits
Slideshows
Videos
Infographics
Graphs or charts
Books or portfolios

Commemoration: Students can celebrate their hard work and success by:

Making thank-y'all cards or gifts for peers and community partners
Being recognized at the next school assembly or on social media
Discussing the touch their efforts have made
Having a grade pizza party

The possibilities are endless when making a service learning programme, so feel costless to get equally creative equally you like. Just recall: a successful service learning program allows for cooperative learning and encourages constant communication and reflection.

Peradventure the well-nigh important part of your program is choosing an actual service project to take on. Get inspired past the examples below.

Five service learning examples for your classroom

When picking your service learning project, exist sure to focus on an upshot that's relevant to your community. It's also important to ensure that necessary fabric can exist embedded into your program.

Beneath are five examples of projects you can use in your class, including some ideas for literature to accompany your lessons. Apply them as a guide when designing your ain plan.

1) Issue: literacy

Activity: Collect books to donate to low income schools or (for older grades) tutor younger students to read. Partner with a local customs organisation that supports literacy in youth.

Preparation: Teach students nigh the importance of literacy and the implications of low literacy rates for the individual and the community.

Books y'all tin can use:

Read Me a Book by Barbara Reid
The Library Card by Jerry Spinelli

2) Issue: fauna welfare

Activity: Collect pet nutrient and toys for animals at your local humane lodge, then take a class trip to deliver the items and visit the animals.

Preparation: Teach students well-nigh shelters, adoption, rehabilitation and how to prevent animate being cruelty.

Books yous tin can use:

Can I Be Your Domestic dog? By Troy Cummings
Saving Winslow by Sharon Creech

This motion-picture show book is written in letters from Arfy the dog, hoping he will persuade someone to adopt him. Groovy for younger grades to help them empathise the importance of pet adoption.

3) Result: poverty and hunger

Action: Agree a canned food bulldoze or collect items to make care packages for the homeless. Partner with a local organisation that works to gainsay poverty.

Preparation: Teach students about hunger and poverty in their community and its negative effects on child development and health. Talk about what others can practice to assist.

Books yous can use:

Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen past DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan
Maddi's Fridge by Lois Brandt

four) Issue: the environs

Action: Work to improve recycling efforts at schoolhouse. Educate staff and students well-nigh what can and can't be recycled. Make quick reference posters. Collect bins from classrooms.

Training: Talk about relevant ecology problems. Discuss the touch waste product has on the globe and ways you can help the environment. Teach students the importance of "reduce, reuse, recycle," why recycling is constructive and how information technology benefits the environment.

Books y'all tin can utilise:

The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden
Me and Marvin Gardens by A. Due south. Rex

This book tells the story of Obe Devlin, a boy who makes an unlikely friendship after his land is taken over by developers. Information technology includes a heartwarming tale while bringing attention to environmental problems. Good for eye grades.

5) Issue: diversity and inclusion

Action: Have the class programme and host a "gloat diversity" day at schoolhouse, to educate each other on dissimilar cultures or groups and cover differences among students. Partner with a local organization that promotes diverseness and inclusion.

Preparation: Teach students about inequality. Define and explain the importance of diverseness and tolerance. Explore ways students can support diversity in their everyday lives.

Books y'all tin can apply:

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Final thoughts on service learning

No matter what project you choose, service learning is a great way to accomplish academic goals, promote teamwork and communication and contribute to a positive schoolhouse culture past inspiring students to requite dorsum.

You now have the necessary tools to bring service learning to your class. Utilize these ideas to programme a service learning programme tailored to your curriculum, and enjoy the crawly results.

Create or log in to your teacher account on Prodigy -- a fun and engaging game-based learning platform that assesses student progress and operation as they play. Aligned with curricula across the English-speaking world, it'southward used by more thana 1000000 teachers and100 million students.